2:30 minute Video – http://www.lifenews.com/2016/06/22/after-discovering-down-syndrome-jerome-lejeune-was-upset-aborted-targeted-children-with-it/ It is August 1969 in San Francisco and Professor Jerome Lejeune is addressing the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics. Ten years earlier he had discovered the genetic cause of Down Syndrome, when he saw under his microscope in a Paris laboratory the third little mark on the 21st chromosome. In 1962 he received the Kennedy Award from the hands of President John F Kennedy for his work with handicapped children. But the drama of his life was that his discovery of trisomy 21 would lead to a medical holocaust, national health systems giving huge funds to track down and eliminate these children before they could be born. Invited to America to receive the highest distinction in genetics for his work, the William Allen Memorial Award, Lejeune decided to use this occasion to speak out in defence of “his patients” — the children and their parents who already came from all over the world to seek his advice and help in Paris. Colleagues tried to persuade him just to address the scientific questions. But Lejeune had given months of reflection to his speech. He had counted the cost. In his soft, very precise voice he said : “For thousands of years, medicine has striven to fight for life and health against disease and death. Any reversal of this order would entirely change medicine itself.” That night he wrote to his wife, “Today I lost my Nobel Prize.” As he had foreseen, Lejeune was ostracised by the scientific, medical and political elite in France. His research funds were withdrawn. In the 1960s...

Students for Life has a new video out that examines the question of whether aborting an unborn baby is necessary to save a woman’s life. Tina Whittington, executive vice president of Students for Life, walks pro-lifers through the question in the short video. She begins by explaining that both the mother and her unborn child must be considered as separate patients who deserve treatment and care. “When it comes to recommended medical procedures, the answer is that we can perform any action that is intended to save lives, but also does not directly or intentionally kill anyone, like an abortion,” Whittington said in the video. For example, in some situations, an early delivery could be scheduled to eliminate the risk to the mother without directly killing her baby, according to the video. With an ectopic pregnancy, the baby could be removed from the fallopian tube in a procedure that saves the mother’s life and does not intentionally kill the child. Unlike abortion, the intention of these procedures are to save as many lives as possible. Medical experts also say that aborting an unborn child is not necessary to save the life of the mother. During an international symposium in 2012 in Dublin, a group of Irish medical professionals concluded that “direct abortion is not medically necessary to save the life of a mother,” LifeNews reported. “Irish Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have previously pointed out that treatment for conditions such as ectopic pregnancy are not considered abortion by doctors, yet misinformation in regard to this abounds in public debate. The Symposium clarifies that direct abortion is never medically necessary to save...

In a society that often tells people with special needs that they can’t, a first grader is proving that she can. Anaya Ellick, a 7-year-old from Chesapeake, Virginia, was born without hands, but this month she defied the odds....

Brian E Fisher, from Online for Life, tells the following story: “The day after Christmas a woman, we’ll call her Sarah, telephoned a local, life-affirming center (a local, community-based organization designed to educate families about pregnancy and options other than abortion). She had already taken two home pregnancy tests – both positive. “She had decided to abort her baby. After she had a few questions answered, the woman said she was going to call a few other clinics. The center asked permission to follow up with her in a few days, and she agreed. “Sarah called back the next day on her own, asking if she could come in for an ultrasound. She had called abortion clinics, discovered she couldn’t get an abortion appointment in her own city for a few weeks, and was preparing to go out of state so she could get the procedure done sooner. Because she needed to verify the pregnancy with an ultrasound before the abortion, she agreed to come to the life-affirming center. “Sarah came in that day with her husband, Paul. The center gave her the ultrasound and talked to her about pregnancy, the child, and her options… “The couple left. Paul wanted to have the child; Sarah was now unsure if she wanted to abort… “Several days later, the center called Paul to follow up. Paul was overjoyed to report that Sarah had changed her mind, and they were going to carry and parent their child… “Here’s the twist: Paul is a policeman. His job is to protect people, even if that means putting himself in harm’s way. Yet he had...

In London, Francesca and Lee Moore-William’s baby was born with a terminal illness. Doctors said she had Mitochondrial disease and would not survive. They took one last photograph, and wept as one-year-old Bella lay sedated in a hospital’s intensive care unit and her life-supporting ventilator was turned off. Just 30 minutes later, the toddler, who doctors had given up for dead, began to improve and soon she began kicking and screaming. Just moments after they kissed little Bella goodbye and shut off her life support, the made a miraculous full recovery. Tomorrow, after a recovery which has stunned her parents and medics, little Bella will celebrate Christmas Day at home with her family. “We were waiting for her to take her final breath,” Francesca said about her baby girl. Doctors believe Bella’s deficiency can now be managed with drugs and the little tot has gone home for Christmas to be with her family. … More at LifeNews.com link below… [Comment: This story is wonderful but perhaps it also should be a story about the need for hope and humility among medical professionals. As a former ICU nurse and medical ethics committee member, I would have some questions based on the information in this article: How soon after little Bella was admitted that the decision to remove the ventilator was made? What criteria were used? Was the information that a “MRI scan showed abnormalities across both sides of her brain” a deciding factor? And was Bella was sedated while on the ventilator as most people are? If so, it is possible that the sedating drugs were stopped and were wearing...

The news just kept getting worse and worse for Courtney Mitchell and her unborn son. It began when Mitchell went for her 20-week ultrasound. Her doctor discovered strange pockets of fluid in her placenta and ordered a high risk ultrasound for the next day. After the second ultrasound, doctors told Courtney and her husband, Chris, that their son had genetic problems and probably would not live outside the womb. Doctors gave baby Eli less than 1 percent chance of survival....

When Andrea Hasse of Michigan was pregnant with her son, Grant, he was diagnosed with a condition that has about 1% chance of survival. His airways were largely blocked and he would suffer from lack of oxygen after birth. Doctors operated at 27 weeks of pregnancy and inserted a tube through his neck to open the airway. They then delivered the baby. Grant is quite healthy. At one year of age, a doctor operated to improve the airway only to discover that Grant had no vocal chords so would never speak. The parents were happy just to have Grant as healthy as he was. The surgeon was not satisfied and made two tubes from the adjacent muscles and separated them with a graft from a rib. The parents received a great thrill when Grant uttered his first word. His vocabulary is expanding. He is expected to speak clearly, but his voice may sound a bit different. His voice will be...

UPDATE: Planned Parenthood Fighting in Court to be Able to Abort Babies With Down Syndrome Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Indiana has scheduled a June 14, 2016, hearing at which she will consider Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky’s request for an injunction to prevent Indiana’s HEA 1337 from going into effect July 1. http://www.lifenews.com/2016/05/05/planned-parenthood-fighting-in-court-to-be-able-to-abort-babies-with-down-syndrome/ Original Article: An ambulance transported a patient from the Women’s Health Services abortion site in Brookline, Massachusetts, to a local hospital for emergency treatment on August 21, 2015. The incident was reported in an e-mail distributed by Operation Rescue Boston. While this is one of 44 such incidents at abortion sites documented by Operation Rescue this year, it is a particularly disturbing one because of the place’s connections with aborted human fetal tissue experimentation done on the brains of Down syndrome and healthy babies obtained without consent of the mothers. Abortionist Laurent C. Delli-Bovi, who is the founder and Medical Director at Women’s Health Services where abortions are done up to 23 weeks, co-authored a 2011 paper that studied the brains of 22 aborted babies, aged 14-22 weeks, to explore why those with Down syndrome experience mental retardation and early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. The study was funded with public money from the National Institutes of Health. Of the 22 baby brains used for experimentation, 11 were harvested from five boys and six girls with Down syndrome, while the other 11 brains were harvested from five boys and six girls without the genetic disorder. The latter were used as control subjects during the experimentation process....

My “Crisis Pregnancy” Turned 15 Years-Old Today: “I Didn’t Save My Son, He Saved Me” Destiny Herndon-Delarosa started the group New Wave Feminists to take back feminism from the abortion advocates and work to protect the rights of babies and their mothers. She also began it for her son. Herndon-Delarosa recently posted a story on her group’s Facebook page about how her teen pregnancy and her son changed her life. http://www.lifenews.com/2015/12/17/my-crisis-pregnancy-turned-15-years-old-today-i-didnt-save-my-son-he-saved-me/ Mom of Baby Who Lived Only Two Days on Why She Rejected Abortion: “It Was My Job to Protect Him” This past week on the Pat Kenny radio show, a mother whose little boy lived for 2 days after birth with Trisomy 18 spoke powerfully and inspiringly about her son Seán. Sarah H., of the group Every Life Counts, which represents families whose children were born with life limiting conditions, gave a moving and beautiful testimony in a week which was otherwise dominated by abortion-supportive broadcasting from Newstalk FM. http://www.lifenews.com/2015/12/16/mom-of-baby-who-lived-only-two-days-on-why-she-rejected-abortion-it-was-my-job-to-protect-him/ Couple Reject Abortion Because Planned Parenthood Wanted $30 for a Pregnancy Test Shawn Carney of the 40 Days for Life pro-life prayer campaign points out today in two updates about how the unending profit motive of the abortion industry is costing it profits from abortions. In two cases, Planned Parenthood’s desire to financially milk its customers resulted in two cases where abortion was rejected. http://www.lifenews.com/2015/10/23/couple-reject-abortion-because-planned-parenthood-charged-30-for-pregnancy-test/ SAFE HAVEN BOXES A Special Box and a Pro-Life Law Saved This Abandoned Baby From Infanticide http://www.lifenews.com/2015/08/24/a-special-box-and-a-pro-life-law-saved-this-abandoned-baby-from-infanticide/ Car Crashed and Rolled Six Times, Amazingly She and Her Baby are Fine http://www.lifenews.com/2015/09/04/pregnant-moms-car-crashed-and-rolled-six-times-amazingly-she-and-her-baby-are-fine/ Mother Who was Told to Abort her 20-Week...

Please Note that any non-invasive prenatal chromosomal tests could test positive, possibly from cancer present in the mother. “[T]he new findings underscore the need to have any positive result confirmed by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling diagnostic test before considering whether to terminate a pregnancy or to plan for a child with developmental disabilities”… “Based on the results of the study, we estimate there is between a 20% and 44% risk of maternal cancer if multiple aneuploidies are detected [in the prenatal tests].“ [Comment: Note this quote from the article: “The unexpected finding emerged in a study involving eight women who initially had abnormal results from the prenatal blood test, but for whom a subsequent assessment showed their babies were normal. When the mothers’ DNA was reanalyzed, researchers said, the anomalies were linked to cancer in each of the women.” However, a December 2014 NBC News article “Prenatal Tests Have High Failure Rate, Triggering Abortions” (online at: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/prenatal-tests-have-high-failure-rate-triggering-abortions-n267301) states: “But positive results can be wrong 50 percent or more of the time. And an investigation by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting published in the Boston Globe found that “likely hundreds” of women are aborting fetuses based on this new generation of (noninvasive) testing. One company reported a 6.2 percent abortion rate based on screening results alone — and without further testing, there is no way to know how many of those may have been due to a false positive. (emphasis added)” Having had a daughter Karen with Down Syndrome in 1982, I was often asked if I had had prenatal testing which at that time was primarily...

[Comment: Note this quote: “Barbara Farlow had a child who died at the age of 80 days from trisomy 13, another rare genetic disorder that causes severe developmental disabilities. She says doctors often recommend against surgery, resuscitation and other possible life-extending interventions because of the high death rate. Most children with the condition die in the first year of life. “Many parents, she says, turn to Internet social networks and find different information than what is in the medical literature. It suggests some children can benefit from aggressive medical interventions. “Ms. Farlow, who lives outside of Toronto, teamed with two doctors from the University of Montreal and the University of Washington School of Medicine to publish a paper in the journal Pediatrics in 2012. The researchers collected data from 332 parents of about 272 children with trisomy 13 and trisomy 18, another genetic condition. “Forty percent of the children in the study lived longer than one year, much higher than what had appeared in previous published population studies.” Decades ago, parents of children with Down Syndrome refused to accept the prevailing medical wisdom and thus saved and improved their children’s lives immeasurably. Now the internet is becoming a great new tool to do the same for other families and other conditions. N Valko RN] Some doctors who treat children with rare conditions sometimes seek guidance from online chat groups where families relate their experiences with the disorders. While gleaning medical information from the Internet is often considered unreliable, doctors may find themselves in a quandary: Scientifically validated recommendations on many uncommon conditions are sparse, and published results...

Breast cancer during pregnancy is very rare, occurring in only one in every 3,000 pregnant women. That’s why when 27-year-old Jenny Davis felt a lump in her breast while nursing her 7-month-old son she wasn’t too concerned. Jenny was just five weeks pregnant with her second child when she discovered the lump but figured it was a plugged milk duct. However, when doctors felt the mass they were worried and wanted to perform a biopsy. Since Jenny was so early in her pregnancy, they had to wait before she could have the routine procedure. Jenny said, “During that time, just a couple of months, the tumor doubled in size”. Dr. Jonathan Bender, Davis’s oncologist and the Medical Director at Piedmont Fayette Cancer Center, said, “She was 27 and diagnosed with one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer that we see, which is ‘triple negative’. We always have to make a decision on whether to delay therapy or treat right away.” While ideally Jenny wouldn’t start chemotherapy until after she had her baby, Dr. Bender felt they had to start treatment as soon as possible. She needed four rounds of chemo during her second and third trimester and then two more after the baby was born. But Jenny was worried about her baby. She said, “Trying to save my life, and trying not to harm her life was very hard.” Thankfully, modern medicine has allowed cancer patients during the second and third trimester of pregnancy to receive some types of chemotherapy without harming the baby. This comes as a surprise to many, even to some doctors, who believe...

Right to Life of Michigan recently published a video about a woman named Sheryl who was violently raped and became pregnant. The video is a part of a series called The Compassion Project, which features women who’ve been affected by abortion. The truth is sometimes women make the irreversible choice to have an abortion without knowing about the various side effects that decision can bring. As LifeNews previously reported, studies show that over 65% of women who have abortions suffer from post-abortive syndrome, 31% have health complications, and post abortive women are six-times more likely to commit suicide than women who give birth. Also, many women who have abortions are coerced or forced into it by parents, partners or abusers. For these women, this “choice” society brags about really isn’t one at all. In the video, Sheryl said the following about the rape and her abortion: “It was acquaintance rape and he denied everything. Next thing I know, I’m in an abortion and I just pretty much went and totally shut down. I just wish society would realize the long-term effect that abortion has on women even in the case of rape. You know, to further traumatize a woman the way I’ve been further traumatized. I just don’t want this to happen to no one else.” Thankfully, the pro-life community wants to offer hope to women who’ve been traumatized by abortion. If you are suffering from your abortion, reach out to Silent No More, Rachael’s Vineyard, and Abortion Recovery International (ARIN) to receive healing and help. Watch a short clip from Sheryl’s video below and listen to her entire...

Paul Smith, an elderly man who suffered with severe cerebral palsy from an early age, created incredible works of art using nothing but a typewriter for decades. Paul used ten of the symbol keys on the typewriter, and compiled a portfolio of hundreds of masterpieces, including an astonishing replica of the Monalisa. Smith could not use a pen or paint brushes, but thanks to his determination and his typewriter, Smith expressed his impressive artistic abilities. Smith lived at Rose Haven Nursing Center from the 1960’s until his death in 2007. The staff and residents there were, to Paul, a family. The home displays many of his masterpieces in the halls. “The artist is even more inspiring than his art,” said his friends… Smith was inspired by his faith to create much of his art, and believed that his talent was a gift from God. When people told Smith that they could never do what he did, his response reflected his positive attitude toward life, “What can you do?” To see some of his amazing artwork, and a 4:27-minute video, visit: http://www.lifenews.com/2014/09/10/man-with-cerebral-palsy-creates-beautiful-artwork-with-only-a- typewriter/ and… [Lauren Enriquez | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 9/10/14, LiveActionNews; LifeNews Note: Lauren is a former Legislative Associate for Texas Right to Life. This post originally appeared at Live Action News and is reprinted with permission. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svzPm8lT36o http://www.lifenews.com/2014/09/10/man-with-cerebral-palsy-creates-beautiful-artwork-with-only-a-typewriter/...

Understandably, medical professionals don’t like it when they are wrong about a diagnosis, especially when it relates to a woman’s pregnancy. This is because in the past doctors and hospitals have been sued for giving incorrect information to women about their unborn babies. For example, in 2013, a mother in England filed suit against a hospital where doctors told her she should have an abortion of her supposedly “brain dead” unborn baby. She followed their advice and took an abortion drug but her baby was still born perfectly healthy without any brain damage. In a story published on a her website, a Jewish woman named Hadassah Sabo Milner explains how she almost lost her baby after doctors told her that her child was no longer viable. When Milner first discovered that she was pregnant, she was cautiously excited because she had already suffered two miscarriages. She explained, “I was in contact with my doctor early on, as I didn’t want to lose this pregnancy too. The minute a woman learns she is pregnant a space is made in her heart for this child. She starts dreaming about the child she carries within her. It’s instinctive. And I am no different. I took progesterone hormone supplements (those of you who have had to take them, you know that I don’t mean pills to swallow) in order to just boost my body’s ability to handle the pregnancy. I didn’t pick up my other kids, although the youngest was already 3 and didn’t really need picking up that much. I did everything I was told to do to ensure this baby stuck.”...

Ann Marie is a friend of mine. Her daughter is now a celebrity. The story begins when Ann Marie’s daughter Mary was in 4th grade. As PennLive.com reports, her friend Ben worked hard to make sure that Mary was included in the games the other fourth graders would play. His act of kindness was significant because Mary has Down syndrome. But to Ben, Mary was not a statistic—she was a friend. Ben informed his mother that, when he was old enough, he would invite Mary to the high school prom. But Ben and Mary ended up attending different high schools. Their paths crossed again one day, and Ben decided to make good on his long-ago promise. As he told PennLive.com, “We got balloons and I wrote ‘prom’ on them. I presented her with the balloons and asked her to go to prom with me.” But the story did not end there. News of the quarterback who asked his Down syndrome friend to the prom has gone viral. The pair even appeared on the cable program “Fox & Friends.” Ben told the Fox News anchor, “Mary’s the coolest person ever!” He also said his mother has never been prouder of him. Mary’s mother, my friend Ann Marie, told me she was wondering if allowing PennLive to publicize the story was the right thing to do. After all, she is protective of her children, and is even reluctant to post pictures of them on Facebook. But she had heard that such positive stories can save the lives of Down syndrome children. It has been estimated that 90 percent of Down syndrome...

Instead of focusing on all those who won’t be graduating because their lives were lost to abortion, I want to introduce you to Allison. Allison is a senior at Clyde High School in Abilene Texas and she just did something few people with Down syndrome do — she graduated from high school. Tragically, most babies (about 90%) who are diagnosed before birth with Down syndrome are aborted. They never make it to school — let alone graduate. But Allison began reading in Kindergarten and she participated in the Miss Sweetheart Special Needs pageant in 2012. She has learned how to play the piano, loves art and creating, crafting, and she participated in Special Olympics in Colorado. She is a friend to all who meet her. Allison began school at age of three and, graduating at 18, loves school and learning and she says reading is her favorite subject. She can work a computer, iPad, and iPhone as well as any so-called “normal” kid her age. Allison plans to attend Disability Resources Inc., in Texas next year. They have work programs where each student has a job and learns the skills needed to perform their jobs. Allison’s official graduation ceremony will be in June, and her parents and family are very proud of her. Her celebration of life is a testimony to all. [Julie Ertelt May 29, 2015, Washington, DC, http://www.lifenews.com/2015/05/29/this-amazing-teenager-just-did-something-few-people-with-down-syndrome-ever-do/...

Caitlin and Emily Copeland were born as conjoined twins, but because they were fused at the chest, liver and bile ducts – and not the heart — doctors were able to successfully perform a separation surgery. Once they were separated at 10 months of age, the twins then began to prosper. Now, they have graduated at the top of their class and are headed to college....

Note: The following is a guest post from a member of the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant By Sexual Assault (WPSA). I’ve been there. I was 17, drugged and raped. When I learned I was pregnant, my family, counselors, and doctors took control. They intended the best. They wanted to help me. And even though there are literally no studies showing any benefit from abortion, they had total confidence in the social myth that abortion is the best option, even the only option, in cases of sexual assault. Even many pro-lifers approve of abortions in cases of rape. So surely it must be the best choice, right? Not in my case. It just added more layers of trauma, self-doubt, grief and guilt. The negative impact lasted for years. I’m not alone. A national study found that half of the estimated 32,000 rape pregnancies which occur each year end in abortion. Note: half. Not even 60 percent. That so many women choose to give birth after rape, despite the social expectations and pressure to abort, should give you pause. Why aren’t all rape victims embracing the conventional wisdom that abortion is the best treatment for rape pregnancies? A hint is found in another study of 164 women who had rape pregnancies (conducted for the book Victims and Victors). In that study, the majority of those who had abortions said it only caused additional problems and the vast majority regretted having abortions. By contrast, among those who delivered the child, satisfaction was higher and none stated any regret for giving birth. Why are these facts so little known? It is...

Man With Cerebral Palsy Created Beautiful Artwork With Only a Typewriter: Video Paul Smith, an elderly man who suffered with severe cerebral palsy from an early age, created incredible works of art using nothing but a typewriter for decades. Paul used ten of the symbol keys on the typewriter, and compiled a portfolio of hundreds of masterpieces, including an astonishing replica of the Monalisa. Smith could not use a pen or paint brushes, but thanks to his determination and his typewriter, Smith expressed his impressive artistic abilities. Smith lived at Rose Haven Nursing Center from the 1960’s until his death in 2007. The staff and residents there were, to Paul, a family. The home displays many of his masterpieces in the halls. “The artist is even more inspiring than his art,” said his friends… Smith was inspired by his faith to create much of his art, and believed that his talent was a gift from God. When people told Smith that they could never do what he did, his response reflected his positive attitude toward life, “What can you do?” To see some of his amazing artwork, and a 4:27-minute video, visit: http://www.lifenews.com/2014/09/10/man-with-cerebral-palsy-creates-beautiful-artwork-with-only-a-typewriter/ and… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svzPm8lT36o [Lauren Enriquez | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 9/10/14, LiveActionNews; LifeNews Note: Lauren is a former Legislative Associate for Texas Right to Life and a graduate of Ave Maria University. This post originally appeared at Live Action News and is reprinted with permission. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svzPm8lT36o http://www.lifenews.com/2014/09/10/man-with-cerebral-palsy-creates-beautiful-artwork-with-only-a-typewriter/ ]...